Automobile-controlling device.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

4mi'lrilin-f'r.,manecran; oF ELWoon, INDIANA, AssIGNoR or ONE-HALF yro WILLiAit a.

RAUGH, F ELWOOD, INDIANA.

AUTOMOBILECONTROLLING DEVICE.

Patented Aug. 13, 1918.'

tain novel features of construction, combi- Application filed September 28, 1917. Seria] No. 193,739.

1b all whom gta 1 concern: l B'e fittkhw "lt at" I, FRED T. LANGoLr,

a citlli'"(ifiltri'e United States, residing at 4Athecounty of Madison and State ai," l" invented certain new and usefulhp'io ments in Automobile-'Confztroiiliiigfll'vic'esg endl do hereby declare the following? a'full, clear, andexact descriptioil'iloflthe invention, such as will enable "others'sliilled' in the art to which it apH pertains to' make and use the saine.

-' y Thisinvention 'relates to improvements in an automobile controlling device and has for one'- of' its objects the provision of a device of this character whereby the operator of the automobile may readily and conveniently rinaiiipulatefthe' clutch and brake pedals by hadithu'sflproviding means whereby a leglesspfeoh may )operate an automobile.

)In-other object of this invention Vis the provision of a controlling lever operatively :"c`onne`cted with' lthe clutch and brake foot ed'al's softhat'upon swinging said lever upon 1tspivotfthelelutcliiwill be disengaged and thenthebrakeapplied iivrtherwobjectof this invention is the -S provision of means whereby the clutch footl edelhmayb'e moved prior to moving the Brake-.foot pedal'ad'held in this position so thatftlieoperatorcan readily andconven iengtlyfusefhis handlfor shifting or changing eflthegearst obtain"'the various speeds upon anggatomobilew f Anfiirtlierl-objectfcf this invention is the prowilsionof afnovelineans of connecting the operiatlifgfor. controlling lever tc the brake ciootpedalaothat `tire-same will be gradually operatedtotpfeiyrent the abrupt stopping of thegaiionobrlef* 'f'- y A still further object of this invention is thevprovifsio" Y ffairfautomobile controlling 'idevixte offtheaabove'f-stated character, which willich @sim le; l"durable and efficient, and which inay-.f @mamifactured and sold at a compapativeiyllow cost.

Vil-ith'the'seand other objects .in view,q tinwil'lfbelioehoretapparent as the description' roced he"invention consists of cernation' and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the `follow-- ing' description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View partly' in scc-tion of an automobile controiling device censtructed in accordance with this il'ivention,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the saine.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the floor board of an automobile having the usual inclined ortion 2 provided with a slot or opening 3 or permitting the clutch foot pedal 4 and the brake foot pedal 5 to operate therethrough. The foregoing relates to a well known construc tion of an automobile to which my invention is applied.

A basa plate 6 is secured to the floor board 1 by fasteners 7 and has secured thereon a semi-circular bar 8 by fasteners 9. The bar 8 is provided with plurality of notches or teeth l0 upon its under face for 'coperation with a pivoted dog 11 carried. by a controlV ling lever 12. The cont-rolling lever 12 has its lower end pivoted between a pair-of relatively spaced ears 13 formed upon the base plate 6. The upper end of the controlling lever 12 is provided with a hollow hand vrip 14 through which. extends a rele. sing ro 15.

` The releasing rod 15 has g4 eured to its 'up er end a hand grip'16,whiie its opposite en 1s secured to the pivoted do formed upon the contfolhng lever 12 and 'is provided with an aperture to slidably re?b ceive the rod 15 to prevent the same from moving out of parallelism with the controlling lever. 15 within the hollow hand grip 14 and has 11. A lug 17 is- A pin 18 is" secured to the'rod one e'nd of a coiled spring 19 dlsposedthne against, while the opposite end of theicoilfe'd spring is seated within the bottom wall of the hollow hand grip 111A for'normally holding the pivoted dog 11 in engagement with the teeth l() upon the bar 8 to prevent. the controlling lever from accidentally7 moving upon its pivot.

A forked arm 2U has formed upon one end thereof a pair of relatively spaced ears 2]. which receive an ear 22 formed upon the con-trolling lever 12. The cars '121 and are connected by a bolt 23. rlhe arm portion 2i of the bifurcated arm 20 is of greaterl length than the arm port-ion 25 and has` formed thereon an extension 26 which extends through an aperture in the clutch foot pedal et. A shoulder 2T is formed upon the arm portion 24 and engages the frontface of the clutch foot pedal 4f, as clearly illus trated in Figs. l and i5, for the purpose of pushing upon the clutch foot pedal et upon swinging the controlling lever l2 forwardly. A. coiled spring 28 surroumfls the extension 2G and is held thereon by cotter pineI 29 to prevent und ue movement of the extension 2b within the aperture of the clutch foot petll il.

An extension 31 is formed upon the end of the arm portion :Z5 of the forked arm 2() and extends through an aperture in the brake foot pedal 5 and receives therethrough a cotter pin or like fastener 32 to prevent the extension from disengaging the aperture of said pedal. A shoulder 33 is formed upon the arm portion 25 and spaced lfrom the front face of the. brake foot pedal 5 and has one end of a coiled spring 34: disposed thereagainst, while the opposite end of the coiled spring rests upon the front face of the foot brake pedal so as to provide a construction to permit the forked arm :20 to have slight movement before the brake pedal 5 will be actuated.

In operation, when it is desired to stop the automobile, the pivoted dog 11 is disengaged from the teeth 10 upon the bar 8 by pushing downwardly upon the rod 15. The controlling lever is then sWun forwardly upon its pivot, causing the orked arm :20 to push upon the clutch pedal 4 disengaging the clutch of the automobile (not shown) and gradually pressing upon the brake pedal 5 to apply the brake of the automobile (not shown). The gradual movement or operation of the brake pedal is obtained by the coil spring 34 interposed between the shoulder 33 and the front Iface of the pedal, so as to prevent abrupt stopping of the automobile and also obviating the danger of applyin the brake prior to disconnecting or rende-ring the clutch of the auton'i'obile inoperative.

When it. is desired to change the speed gears of the automobile, the controlling lever 1'2 is moved forwardly a short distance sufficient ro cause the forked ari'n to move the. clutch pedal 4, rendi ing the clutch and conveniently operate an automobile.

While I. have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the. spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. An automobile controlling device comprising a controlling lever, and means connecting the controlling lever to the clutch and foot pedals of an automobile, said means operating the clutch pedal prior to the foot pedal.

2. An automobile controlling device comprising a controlling lever, a bifurcated arm pivoted to said controlling lever and connected to the clutch and brake pedals of an automobile to operate the clutch pedal prior to the foot pedal.

3. An automobile controlling device com. prising abase plate, a rack bar secured to said plate, a controlling lever pivoted t0 said base plate, a pivoted dog on said controlling lever and engaging the rack bar to hold said level' against accidental movement, a spring actua-ted rod connected to the controlling lever and dog for disengaging said dog from the teeth of the rack bar, and means connecting the controlling lever to the clutch and brake pedals of an automobile to actuate the same upon movement of the controlling lever.

4. An automobile controlling device comprising a controlling lever, a forked arm pivoted to said controlling lever, an exten-v sion formed upon, one arm portion of the forked arm and extending through an aperture in the clutch pedal of an automobile, a shoulder formed on said arm portion for engaging the front face of the clutch pedal, a coiled spring surrounding said extension, an. extension formed on the other arm portion of the forked arm and extending through an aperture in the brake pedal, a fastener extending through said extension, a shoulder formed on the second mentioned arm portion of the forked arm' and spaced from the front faoe of the brake pedal, and In testin'xony Whoroof I affix my signature a coiled spring interposed between the last in presence of two Witnesses. named shoulder and the front face of the Vitnesses: brake pedal to ermt the gradual applioan FRED T. LANGOLF.

5 tion of the bra ze of the automobile upon HENRY C NUDING,

movement of the Controlling lever. SAMUEL G. YANNEMAN. 

